A WELSH chief constable says young men who have sex with girls aged 13 and over should not necessarily be classed as paedophiles.

The police’s leading spokesman on child protection, Dyfed-Powys chief constable Terry Grange, believes “paedophile” should describe men who have sex with prepubescent girls.

The closer a child got to 16 the more of a “grey area” it became and he did not want to mix up “kids just the wrong side of 16” with paedophiles.

Mr Grange – spokesman on child protection and managing sex offenders for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) – expressed what he described as personal opinions.

“Child pornography” was a term which should also only apply to images of children who were below the age of 13, he believed.

But a charity which campaigns for child safety described his views as very disturbing and said he was “on dicey ground”.

In the UK the age of consent is 16 and anyone who has sex with someone under the age of 16 is breaking the law.

If the child is over 13 and has consented the offence is classed as “unlawful sexual intercourse” and if the child is under 13 they cannot give consent and the offence is rape.

Mr Grange said: “Child porn is 12 and under. For me, that sort of thing, paedophilia, is [with] prepubescent children.

“It’s much more of an issue for me if a child is under 13. I think the closer they get to 16, the more it becomes a grey area and I think everyone in the field of dealing with sexual health and sexual activity acknowledges that.”

He asked in a radio interview yesterday whether, if a boy of 16 was dating the 14-year-old girl next door and having sex with her, would anyone really want to class the 16-year-old boy as a paedophile.

Asked how he would define paedophilia, Mr Grange said: “We are talking about very young people [when] it is paedophilia, and I wouldn’t want to mix up kids who are just the wrong side of 16 with paedophiles.

“I don’t personally adhere to the 15-year-old being with a 20-year-old boyfriend being paedophilia, or even if the boyfriend is 30.”

Across Europe the age of consent varies. In Austria, Bulgaria and Croatia it is 14 while in Spain it is 13. A UK survey suggests a third of girls have sex before they are 16 and a sixth of boys.

Michelle Elliott, the director of charity Kidscape, which campaigns to keep children safe from harm or abuse, said: “Most people would say that no adult should be having sex with a child under the age of 16, and if they do they are sexually attracted to children, and if they are, they are a paedophile.”

She said using puberty as a guide to sexual maturity was difficult.

In a radio interview she said: “Girls, nine, 10 and 11 are now post-pubescent.

“They’re wearing bras, they’re having their periods.

“They are no longer children in his definition. So I think he’s on very dicey ground here.

“I think he was probably trying to bring up the teenage issue, and maybe got himself in deeper than he meant.”